How ‘men’s rights’ activist websites have become recruiting hubs for white nationalism

The election of Donald Trump was driven in part by the emergence of a white nationalist movement in the United States that has taken to calling itself the “alt-right.”

But how did we get here? The Guardian has published a disturbing report showing how young white men are gradually being radicalized against feminists and minorities through so-called “pick-up artist” websites that are there to ostensibly offer them tips for succeeding in sexual conquests.

As writer Abi Wilkinson explains, these websites give many men an outlet to vent misogyny against women who have rejected them, all while railing against feminists for purportedly denying them their rightful places atop society.

“On their forums I’ve read long, furious manifestos claiming that women are all sluts who ‘ride the cock carousel’ and sleep with a series of ‘alpha males’ until they reach the end of their sexual prime, at which point they seek out a ‘beta cuck’ to settle down with for financial security,” she writes. “I’ve lurked silently on blogs dedicated to ‘pick-up artistry’ as men argue that uppity, opinionated, feminist women – women like myself – need to be put in their place through ‘corrective rape.'”

While this sounds disturbing enough in and of itself, Wilkinson says that these forums do not simply limit themselves to hostility toward women, but toward people of other races and ethnicities as well. In particular, she notes that the sites often traffic in white men’s sexual anxiety about dark-skinned men stealing away white women whom should be “theirs” by right.

“Reading through the posting history of individual aliases, it’s possible to chart their progress from vague dissatisfaction, and desire for social status and sexual success, to full-blown adherence to a cohesive ideology of white supremacy and misogyny,” she writes. “Neofascists treat these websites as recruitment grounds. They find angry, frustrated young men and groom them in their own image.”